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telegraph

[ tel-i-graf, -grahf ]
/ ˈtɛl ɪˌgræf, -ˌgrɑf /
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See synonyms for: telegraph / telegraphed / telegraphing on Thesaurus.com

noun
an apparatus, system, or process for transmitting messages or signals to a distant place, especially by means of an electric device consisting essentially of a sending instrument and a distant receiving instrument connected by a conducting wire or other communications channel.
Nautical. an apparatus, usually mechanical, for transmitting and receiving orders between the bridge of a ship and the engine room or some other part of the engineering department.
a message sent by telegraph; a telegram.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
to send a message by telegraph.
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Origin of telegraph

<French télégraphe (1792) a kind of manual signaling device; see tele-1, -graph

OTHER WORDS FROM telegraph

te·leg·ra·pher [tuh-leg-ruh-fer] /təˈlɛg rə fər/ especially British, te·leg·ra·phist, nounpre·tel·e·graph, adjectivere·tel·e·graph, verbun·tel·e·graphed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use telegraph in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for telegraph

telegraph
/ (ˈtɛlɪˌɡræf, -ˌɡrɑːf) /

noun
  1. a device, system, or process by which information can be transmitted over a distance, esp using radio signals or coded electrical signals sent along a transmission line connected to a transmitting and a receiving instrument
  2. (as modifier)telegraph pole
a message transmitted by such a device, system, or process; telegram
verb

Derived forms of telegraph

telegraphist (tɪˈlɛɡrəfɪst) or telegrapher, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for telegraph

telegraph
[ tĕlĭ-grăf′ ]

A communications system in which a message in the form of short, rapid electric impulses is sent, either by wire or radio, to a receiving station. Morse code is often used to encode messages in a form that is easily transmitted through electric impulses.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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